Harry Potter and the shinobi's goblet
by yenyenyen
Summary: Dumbledore hires Neji, Naruto and Sakura to protect Harry in fear of Trelawney's prediction in the 3rd year. Nejisaku, Naruhina, slight Sasusaku. UP FOR ADOPTION! SEE INFO IN MY PROFILE! FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!
1. Harry's bodygaurds

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

"Surely he won't need bodyguards?" Professor McGonagall asked with a touch of weariness in her voice. Dumbledore sighed and unstuck two lemon drops.

"We've been through this, Minerva. _Yes,_ he will need bodyguards. I have a bad feeling this year, especially after Professor Trelawney's prediction. It has to be done." Dumbledore answered, putting a lemon drop in his mouth.

"But the ministry isn't going to spare aurors to protect him, not since Sirius Black has escaped again!"

"Oh no, we aren't going to ask _them_. I have quite an idea who I am going to ask, and you're going to assist me, Minerva."

"Me, assist you?"

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"Naruto! Tsunade requests us at her office now!" Sakura called, waving a clipboard in her hand. Naruto groaned. Another chance of going to Ichiraku's…._gone_. Oh, he was going to murder the hag this time.

"Does it have to be now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto grumbled as he walked next to the kunoichi with his hands behind his head.

"Yes, it has to be now. Two rather…er…_strange_ clients has appeared, well, at least that's what Tsunade-shishou said. I've also called Neji, and he's already at the tower."

"This better be good, Tsunade baa-chan…" Naruto muttered, and broke into a quick run that left Sakura behind in the dust.

"Oh no, you're not going to leave me behind, Naruto!"

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"Right now, the village is still recovering from a former attack led by other villages, and many are still grieving by our loss. We can only spare three of our best ninja. Is that alright for you?"

"Your village got attacked? By whom?" Dumbledore asked, taking out his box of lemon drops from his pocket. McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"Before that, you must understand the history of ninjas first. There are several countries, which run on money its village ninja earn. The countries are: Fire, wind, water, earth and lightning. Each has their own ninja village. The village is run by the strongest ninja in the village. Each village and country must maintain their ranking and strength, by all means, train and raise children to become ninja." Tsunade paused, waiting for the information to sink in.

"In the fire country, we have the hidden leaf village, or Konoha, which is here." Tsunade continued proudly. "In the water country, we have the hidden village of the mist. In the earth country, the hidden rock village. In the country of the wind, we have the hidden sand. These are the 5 strongest villages of all. Each have to maintain its power, or other villages will turn on it and attack it. Each village is competing to become the strongest, so we accept any kind of mission, so long as it pays well."

"So why were you attacked, if this village was one of the strongest?" Professor McGonagall asked stiffly, adjusting her hat.

"Behind that story, there exist the three legendary ninja, or sages. I'm one of them, the slug queen. Jiraiya, the summoner of frogs, and the most fearsome and evil one, Orochimaru, the snake. The previous Hokage or leaf village leader was getting old, and Orochimaru wanted to become the Hokage, but the Hokage refused. In rage, Orochimaru left the leaf village and plotted away against us. A few months ago, he had killed the Hokage and led a war against us, with the Sand village on his side. We had managed to win the war, but with a price." Tsunade's voice became bitter.

Professor McGonagall looked a bi disturbed now. "He sounds like you-know-who." She said to Dumbledore, who nodded.

"But it turned out he had tricked the sand village, he impersonated their leader after murdering him."

Professor McGonagall stifled a gasp.

"But anyway, now down to business. You were asking us to protect a boy. How old is he?" Tsunade took a long gulp of sake after her question.

"Oh yes, his name is Harry Potter, and he is 14 years old." Dumbledore replied, now shaking his box of lemon drops to see if there was anymore.

"14 years old? Shouldn't he be old enough to protect himself? We are very busy, you know." Tsunade said.

"There is another wizard like the Orochimaru you mentioned. He is also a user of snakes. He plots to get back in power after being defeated by Harry every year, but I had a rather bad omen sighting, you see, and would like extra protection this year, if not enough." Dumbledore answered, sadly putting the candy box back in his pocket.

"Well then, I think three of ours should be enough. Come in!" Tsunade called.

Three tall ninja stepped in. Each was wearing a mask, two wore navy blue sandals and all three had headbands with a swirly sign on it, but in clothes they were different. One had long white robes on; the other had a beige skirt and black shorts underneath, with a red sleeveless tank top, black gloves and combat boots. The last one had a black topped orange jumpsuit on.

"You called, Hokage-sama?" The one with tall white robes asked in Japanese, stepping forward and bowing.

"Hai, I called." Tsunade replied in Japanese. "These are our clients."

The girl with the beige skirt stepped towards Dumbledore and bowed. Dumbledore bowed back, but Professor McGonagall only nodded.

"Ah, Tsunade, I can speak Japanese, but my companion here cannot. I think its best if those three learned to speak English." Dumbledore suggested, and raised his wand.

A strange blue light shot out of the wand tip and entered the three ninja before they could dodge. They dropped to the ground after a moment, panting heavily.

"W-what did you do?" The ninja with white robes shouted, still panting heavily, but stopped talking when he noticed the language he was speaking in.

Dumbledore smiled calmly, his eyes twinkling. "I just shot a speaking spell at you, so you can speak and understand our language. But it requires another spell for you to write English, I'm afraid, but I think you'd rather not have it, so the teachers won't pile homework on you. But then again, it is needed." He said happily.

The three ninja stared at them through their masks, apparently unable to come over the shock of suddenly speaking another language.

"So we can speak English now?" The kunoichi asked, feeling the strange syllables rolling over her tongue with ease.

"You are quite right." Dumbledore answered again, apparently unfazed by the fact that all that he had just said about the speaking spell had not gone through the three ninja's brains.

"Hokage-sama, what is the mission? I have a lot of patients waiting for me at the hospital."

"Does my uncle know about this?"

"You wasted my chance of going to Ichiraku's after training, old hag!"

Tsunade growled, causing the three to stop at once. "Now let me explain the mission. You three are going to protect this boy called Harry Potter, who is about your age. You are staying in his world about a year, and I do not want complaints from any of you." Tsunade said sternly, eyeing each one of them.

Dumbledore chuckled softly, but everyone turned to look at him. "Oh, it's nothing important. I was merely thinking of what would happen when you get to Hogwarts." He explained.

"Now," Dumbledore continued. "You three know everything about your mission, correct? Good, good." Dumbledore said, smiling at the nodding heads. "I want all three of you to hold hands, and one should hold mine." He extended a wrinkled hand.

The ninja with white robes grabbed Dumbledore's hand, his other occupied by the ninja with the combat boots.

"Excellent. Minerva, your hand please." Professor McGonagall took his other hand rather hurriedly, and grabbed her hat.

"Remember you must not reveal anything about yourselves until the very last, got it?" Tsunade shouted, waving good-bye.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" They shouted back.

Dumbledore smiled, and said, "Please do not let go while we are apparating, understand?"

The three ninja had no time to reply as they suddenly felt as if something was squeezing them through a very thin tube, cutting off their air supply.


	2. The night at Leaky Cauldron

A loud crack sounded through the streets of London, and a medium-sized cat with glasses-like markings around its eyes slowly slinked out of the shadows.

It looked around twice, and flicked its tail at somebody.

Albus Dumbledore walked out, closely followed by three awe-struck teenagers with weird clothing.

"Alright, you three. We are now going to a place called the leaky cauldron. It is the doorway to the wizarding world. It's a famous place. Oh, don't worry. Nobody's going to attack you while I'm around." Dumbledore said hastily when he saw the three ninja's weapons in their hands.

The ninja grumbled as they put the weapons away.

"You are not to attack anyone or anything in Diagon Alley, understand?" Professor McGonagall warned, still a bit tense from her transformation.

The three shinobi nodded stiffly, and walked past her to follow Dumbledore.

Dumbledore slowly pushed open the bar door and a toothless fellow greeted them. "Ah, Dumbledore. What brings you here tonight?" He said, welcoming them inside.

"Urgent Hogwarts business, Tom." Dumbledore replied cheerfully. "Can you spare bedrooms for my three distinguished guests?"

Tom looked around Dumbledore to see three oddly dressed teenagers in masks looking around the dingy, dark and dripping pub.

"Oh, how many bedrooms would they like?" Tom asked.

"Two or three bedrooms would suffice."

"Wonderful! This way please, my friends." Tom led them up a rickety staircase up to several polished doors.

The ninja made their way inside; the girl with short pink hair chose one bedroom, and the other two had to share one.

"I'll be up at seven with your breakfast." Tom said.

"Now, after your breakfast I'll show you around Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies. Don't sleep late though; I'm at a tight schedule you know. But then again, one does need enough beauty sleep." Dumbledore said, smiled, and disapparated with a twirl of his cloak. Professor McGonagall looked them over sternly, and disapparated also.

"Now, I'll leave you three to unpack a little, and I'll be up 10 minutes later with a midnight snack if you're hungry." Tom smiled warmly when he heard the three's stomachs growl.

The shinobi stared at one another before nodding, and started to unpack their ninja gear.


	3. The three wands for the three ninja

"Hand me your lists, please." Dumbledore said, sticking out a wrinkled hand. One ninja thrust the letter at him.

"Alright, should we get wands first, or save the best for last?" Dumbledore said, stopping in front of a shop that sold wands with a very dusty window that looked like it had been broken many times.

"Whatever suits your schedule most, sir." The girl ninja replied politely. Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you, dear child. I think its best if we save this for last."

They went through many stores, such as Flourish and Blotts that sold every kind of book imaginable except for ninja scrolls, which disappointed our fellow shinobi friends greatly.

Finally, after half an hour they arrived at wands.

"Go on in." Dumbledore said, opening the door for them.

The ninja stepped inside the shop and looked around. Shelves and shelves of dusty boxes filled the back of the room. A desk with long bendable rulers on it was at the front.

"Welcome, welcome." A musty voice came from the top of the room. Looking up, the ninja looked up to see the shopkeeper, a balding old man with vague grey eyes gazing down at them.

"Ah, good to see you, Dumbledore. And these are…?"

"Exchange students from Japan." Dumbledore said coolly. The old man nodded and the edges of his mouth edged upward into what looked like a cross between a smirk and a smile.

"Good afternoon. I'm Ollivander, the wand-maker. Will one of you please step forward, so we may begin?" Ollivander said, tipping his head.

The ninja with white robes stepped forth, fidgeting slightly. Ollivander climbed down the stairs and flicked his wand, making the rulers bounce toward the ninja. "Young sir, which is your wand arm?" He asked.

"Do you mean the arm I write with?"

"Well of course I do! How many arms have you got?" Ollivander snapped.

The ninja dressed in white extended his right arm. As if they knew their daily job, the rulers bounced towards the arm and began measuring.

"Here you go; 12 inches and phoenix feather, jumpy. Wave it."

The ninja waved it around, but it was snatched from his grasp.

"Here, try this, its -"

"Do you have any wands that have a connection with the sun?" The ninja interrupted, giving back the wand to an astonished Ollivander.

"Well…yes, I do. But it is rare, and does not suit ordinary people." Ollivander stuttered. "But if you insist…"

Ollivander tottered back to his collection of wands. Only after five minutes of rummaging did he reappear.

"Here. 14 inches, solid sunbeam, calm and powerful. Try it."

The ninja gripped the slightly gold-colored wand, and instantly it glowed with a bright light, and showered everyone with golden sparks.

Ollivander gasped with amazement. "Extraordinary! Wonderful! Magnificent! Young sir, you must be aware that you have been chosen by one of the most powerful and wonderful wands! Excellent, excellent…next please!"

The pink-haired ninja walked into the middle of the shop. "My name is associated with sakura blossoms. Do you have anything with that?"

"Certainly, my dear! But there is only one rare wand made like that, just like the rare wand given to your friend. Let me fetch it." Ollivander hurried to the back, and came back with a pinkish-looking wand.

"14 and half inches. Supernatural Sakura petal essence from the forests of Albania. Elegant, yet forceful. Wave it."

The girl took the wand from him, and suddenly pink light shot out of the wand in all directions; the walls cracked, and pink sakura blossoms spilled out of the cracks.

"This is most amazing! Dear girl, you are as magnificent as your partner there!" Ollivander seemed to be absolutely delighted.

The last ninja walked ahead. "I'm the last one."

"What would you like?" Ollivander asked, without waiting for the ninja to ask. "Uhh…well, I'm mostly like a fox…so you got anything like that?" The ninja asked.

"Oh, oh, oh! Wait here!"

The old man hobbled over to the ninja with an orange tangy-colored wand.

"14 inches. Magical Fox fur and whiskers from the forests of china. Strong, and formidable."

The ninja grabbed it, and that moment a dazzling orange light exploded out of the tip, and formed into a small fox-like silhouette. It circled around the boy, and a moment later reentered the wand again.

Ollivander did not say anything, but his eyes lit up like the sun.

"That would be 28 galleons!" He said, extending a hand.

The three ninja paid, and left the shop with their powerful and rare wands tightly gripped in their hands.

They walked quietly, until Dumbledore broke the silence. "I trust you three will get your own pets?" He asked. The ninja nodded. "Good, now the train is two days away, so pack up, and look for your pet tomorrow. Tom will be there with a morning call at eight."

Dumbledore saw them off at their room doors, then disapparated.

The ninja threw their stuff on their beds, and started to talk about what they would keep as pets.


	4. Magical pets for the three shinobi

**Ah! Ok, Grumpywinter asked me about Neji's wand, and here the info is:**

**I searched online and found character name puns, and Hyuuga means _Sun_. There, mystery solved? All three would be in the tournament, although I don't know how, and because I couldn't choose between who would or wouldn't go.**

**All three have unique pets, and I just think that the panther suits Sakura best. but if you have any other suggestions, message me and I'll think it over. If I like your suggestion I'll resubmit the chappie and you can read it again. thanks and happy reading my dear loyal readers! hands out cookies to all**

**To all who reviewed, they recieve honors by having their name on this page. Read and review their stories please.**

**Inuyashasmistree25**

**Ero-kun**

**shinigami-merc**

**Raven's familier**

**scione**

**Icecream skittles addict**

**grumpywinter**

**leader of talking palm tree**

**Most of them has also reviewed my other harryxnaruto crossover, called **The rookie 9 from hogwarts, which is about 11 or 12 chapters long. read that too!

"Well….what are we going to get for pets?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked, flopping down on her bed.

"Honestly, I don't care."

"Whatever."

"Can't you two be more enthusiastic?" The kunoichi screamed. The chocolate-haired ninja coughed, and said, "Well, what would _you_ like?"

The kunoichi paused. "I…"

The ninja sniggered. "Don't laugh at me!" The pink-haired girl shouted, throwing pillows at him.

"Ow! OW! Stop that!"

"I always liked cats. But for kunoichis, kitty cats are too weak…" The girl stammered.

"Well, there are always other kinds of wild cats. You know…like a lion?" The blonde ninja suggested, flicking his wand around.

"You can't bring a lion in the school, Naruto!" The girl yelled, hitting Naruto's head.

"I was just suggesting, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled back.

The white-robed ninja snorted. Sakura immediately looked at him. "What?" She snarled.

"I was about to say that there are other cats then the lion. Such as the tiger, the panther, the leopard, the-"

"I know, I know, Neji!"

Neji smirked. Really, annoying the kunoichi was just so amusing.

"I think either a tiger or a panther would do, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, lying down on his bed. Sakura thought it over. "That would be nice…" She agreed.

"I just decided what my pet would be, Sakura-chan! Mine would be…a fox!" Naruto yelled.

"Anyone could guess that, baka."

"Shut up, Neji-teme! What are you going to get, anyways?"

Neji smirked. "Well, seeing that I have the Byakugan, something with equally good eyesight should fit. The Hawk, for example."

Sakura smiled. "Well, lets get going tomorrow. I'm…going to hit the hay…" She yawned. "G'night."

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

"Hn, Haruno-san."

"Young sirs, miss, its time for breakfast." Tom knocked on the door with one hand, the other hand occupied with a tray laden with food.

Sakura got kicked out of her sleep by Neji and had to open the door. "Good morning, Tom. Thanks for the breakfast." Sakura smiled, taking the tray.

"Oh no need to thank me. Enjoy your breakfast."

"OY, you lazy bums, get up and eat before I eat all of it!" Sakura said, and kicked Neji and Naruto hard on the heads.

"Ouch, you crazy woman!"

"Argh, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura giggled. "Here, that's your breakfast. Don't spill it!" She yelled when Naruto sleepily took the tray.

"Your breakfast, Prince Neji." She handed Neji his tray, and received a glare in return. Sakura pretended to not notice.

After breakfast, the shinobi washed up, took a shower, and put on their ninja-gear. Now all they had to do was find a location for their pets.

"I think this forest would do." Neji said, pointing to a spot on the map. Naruto looked at it. "I have no idea where that is, but whatever." He said dumbly. Neji death-glared at him and continued. "There are foxes and hawks there, but we have to go somewhere else for that panther of yours." Neji flashed a glance at Sakura.

"Whatever, Neji. Hey…wait. How are we going to get there?"

Neji and Naruto's eyes widened at this horrible problem. How WERE they going to get there? Naruto was about to say something when a loud crack outside their door caught all three's attention.

"Don't move. Get a kunai." Neji whispered, holding out a hand. Naruto quietly threw a kunai to him, which Neji caught.

Neji raised it, and opened the door with a flash.

"Good lord, put down that horrible knife right now!"

Neji looked down to see a white-as-a-sheet McGonagall with her hands up.

Naruto and Sakura behind him laughed. McGonagall glared at them. "It is not a laughing matter." She said stiffly.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to take you to get your pets. A waste of time, but it is requested by Dumbledore, so I have no choice. Where do you three wish to go?"

"Here, somewhere here, in the forests." Neji poked the spot on the map marked with an X.

"Alright, alright. Hold hands, everyone." McGonagall gripped Neji's hand tightly. A loud crack at the spot, and they were gone.

"Neji, do you see anything?"

"Yes, a family of foxes two miles to your right, Naruto." Neji pointed.

"Yosh. I Got it." Naruto sped off with Neji, Sakura and a very agitated McGonagall running after him.

Minutes later, Naruto stopped a few yards away from the fox den. Naruto immediately calmed himself down, and meditated to let a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra out. It succeeded, and Naruto's eyes turned a malicious bright red.

Naruto began calling out in fox language, which sounded extraordinary to a human. Neji and Sakura stared at him.

The foxes ears perked up in their direction and one large fox came trotting over.

Naruto stepped out of the bush and grinned, showing his sharp canines. The fox opened his mouth slightly to let his tongue out, which made him look like he was smiling. Naruto reached out slowly, afraid that the fox might bite it. But the fox stayed put, and fidgeted as though to say hurry up.

Naruto petted the fox and scratched its ears, which made its tail wag like a dog's. Naruto spoke to it again, and it seemed to nod as it looked at Naruto.

Naruto turned around and grinned, making a "Nice guy" pose.

Neji and Sakura let out a breath of air. "Alright, McGonagall, we're done here. Now for my pet…" Neji said, activating his Byakugan.

Naruto came back with the fox curled up in his arms.

Sakura smiled at it, and petted its head like Naruto did, earning a lick from the fox.

"What are you going to name it?" She asked. The fox barked a little bark, and licked Naruto's chin. "I'm going to name it Kyuubi." Naruto said, stroking the fox.

Sakura twitched a little bit, but smiled. "That's…nice." She said.

"Guys, found a strong-looking Hawk. I'm going to catch it." Neji called.

Fixing chakra on his feet, Neji slowly inched up the tree where the Hawk was perched. The hawk easily spotted him and swooped down. Neji grimaced as the hawk's talons scratched his shoulder.

The hawk screeched, and landed to watch its victim. Neji looked up at the hawk, and held out his arm. The hawk looked and looked at Neji, until it caught sight of his Byakugan.

"Kraaaawk!" The hawk screeched. It swooped down and landed on Neji's arm. Then, it hung down its head, as though recognizing a new master. Neji nearly grinned at his success.

"It's your turn, Haruno!" Neji yelled.

Sakura nodded and smiled at him. Finally; her turn.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Ok everyone, I've decided on a slight pairing in this one. Sasusaku sasuke will appear later in the story or Nejisaku? Vote and tell me! Which one gets the most votes wins!**


	5. Author's note

**Hello everyone who reads this, most likely my wonderful reviewers:**

**Got some major news to tell you all. I was reading my own fics and thinking about them, and I thought that they weren't so great. I mean, I wasn't so satisfied with them. **

**So, I decided to write a new crossover. This is the summary:**

**Beautiful, yet evil and blood thirsty akatsuki member Haruno Sakura is sent on a mission to assassinate the boy who lived, Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Harry's friends. At the same time, Sasuke and Naruto are sent to protect Harry, not knowing that their teammate is going to target their charge.**

**Like it? I was doing math and I thought of this. If you guys like it, then I'll discontinue my other two fics and write this one. OK? Tell me through PMs or reviews.**

**Thankyou.**


	6. Attack and ambush: fight and defend!

"Hey, Professor Mc-gone-a-go or whatever your name is, you'll have to take us to a jungle or a forest that you know where tigers are!" Naruto yelled at poor Professor McGonagall.

"My name is Mc-gone-a-gall. NOT gone-a-go!" McGonagall yelled back, her face flushed. Neji fought an urge to snicker at her. "Yeah, whatever. Your name doesn't matter to us. Just take us to whatever jungle or forest you know of." Naruto waved a hand at her.

McGonagall muttered something like "Dumbledore…must….listen…them…important…thing." and glared at Naruto before extending her hand reluctantly.

Neji smirked at her, which infuriating her even more, and motioned for the others to come.

They all joined hands and with a loud crack, disappeared on the spot.

Sakura felt her lungs being squeezed to death during the apparation, and just when she was about to suffocate, the feeling lifted.

Naruto looked around the wet, misty jungle/forest. Trees covered in moss surrounded them, making them feel watched, even though no one was really watching them.

Neji scanned the area with his byakugan, which McGonagall eyed curiously. "There's one big one over there, Haruno-san." He said calmly, pointing at some random spot that, to McGonagall, seemed to be right next to her.

McGonagall followed Neji's gaze to the tree next to her before jumping and almost shouting, "Where? Where?"

Sakura looked at him, confused. She didn't sense anything there. "No, no, no. Haruno-san, I meant it was 1.2 miles away to your left, near a tree that looks like Hokage-sama's table." Neji said in a how-could-you-not-know-that-and-I-thought-you-were-smart tone. Sakura half glared at him before taking off in front of an astonished and embarrassed McGonagall.

Sakura finally stopped before a table like tree, and heard a slight growl. She looked up to see a huge, beautiful and lean tiger snarling silently with it's mouth wide open, showing rows and rows of pure white, gleaming fangs.

Sakura was about to speak when suddenly 700 pounds of roaring muscle and fury hit her straight on; there was no time for her to dodge.

It took almost all of her might just to keep the snapping jaws away from her neck. Sakura struggled and struggled under the might of the striped cat, which looked as if it was determined to kill her as long as it lived. Sakura yearned to use a jutsu on it, but she knew that would probably strengthen its resolve to kill and maybe even kill it in the process.

"**Come on! You can't be beat by this stupid kitty-cat! You're the Godaime's apprentice! You can't lose here!"** Her inner screamed at her.

"_I know I can't lose! If I lose, I'll DIE!"_ Sakura thought, putting a bit of chakra into her hands just to lift the huge paws off of her. The tiger roared and pressed harder, its fangs inches away from taking it's chosen victim's life.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled, her eyes popping. Summoning half of her chakra into her palms she shoved the cat away from her. The cat snarled as it tumbled off her and hit the ground. Sakura panted as though she had run ten miles, and watched the huge animal.

"_Come on, Sakura! Think, think, think!"_ Sakura thought as the huge, bigger-then-life tiger circled her, its eyes also watching her every move, waiting for a time to strike.

Just then, as the cat circled her, Sakura noticed a gaping wound in its side. It was so deep Sakura could nearly see its ribs. _It must've been in a fight. But even with this much blood loss it can still nearly overpower me, it means that this isn't its full strength!_ Sakura thought with wide eyes. _So the right time to attack…is…NOW!_

Sakura summoned chakra to her legs and tackled the huge cat with breakneck speed. The cat yelped in surprise as the kunoichi attached herself to its side.

Sakura immediately lashed out with special shinobi wire and spun it around the tiger's limbs with a flick of her wrist. Once wrapped around three times Sakura gave a hard tug and tightened the knot. The cat roared with fury as it struggled to free itself.

Sakura flipped the cat over with great difficulty, and placed her hands several inches away from the wound. Warm and soothing chakra poured from her hands into the wound. Sakura concentrated, imagining the flesh growing back, the veins connecting again.

Sakura felt the tiger relax and heard it purr a quiet comforted purr. Sakura smiled. Once she was done, she cut the wire, and released the tiger.

"Hey, I healed you, just so you know." Sakura told the tiger, who cocked its head at her. "I was looking for a partner…and you seemed ideal…will you accept?"

Sakura reached out to pet the tiger. The tiger looked at the hand, hesitated, but after a few moments later walked forward and allowed her to rub its ears.

Sakura smiled happily; mission accomplished. "Follow me, er….tiger." She said, removing her hand from its head. She began walking back to her teammates. The tiger followed.

Neji leaned against a tree while Naruto played with a kunai. Professor McGonagall nervously watched her surroundings, twitching or jumping every now and then when she heard a noise like a monkey calling.

"Listen, woman. You aren't going to be attacked by some wild animal. Even if you were, you have us protecting you." Neji finally said, irritated by McGonagall's fidgeting. McGonagall looked incredulously at him.

"You're our helper, so it's sort of like payment, protecting you." Neji said, answering McGonagall's inner question.

Naruto flipped a kunai, failed to catch its handle and cut his hand. "Ow, my hand!" He yelled, wiping away the blood.

McGonagall looked at Neji as though to say "That's my protector?" and hurried forward with her wand, ready to heal Naruto.

"No need, it's already healed." Naruto shook her off, showing her his supposedly _cut_ hand. McGonagall looked with amazement when she saw his hand, which bore no trace of a cut, not even a scar.

Suddenly, Naruto's fox growled at some unseen thing. Neji's hawk shifted nervously, its talons gripped his shoulder a little harder.

Neji got the message and activated his Byakugan. He scanned the area, and noted several strong chakras were heading towards them.

"Naruto, several people are approaching." He announced a bit later. Naruto nodded and put two fingers together. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" 5 clones appeared next to Naruto, scaring the spit out of McGonagall.

"Ok, you two go spy and see who they are." Naruto said, pointing at two Narutos on his right. "You three go surround them. Got it?"

Naruto's clones nodded and disappeared in a flash.

Neji turned to a shocked McGonagall. "Sorry, Professor, but it seems like we have company." He told her.

"20 of them, actually. They carry those carved and polished chakra sticks you call wands."

Neji looked to see who spoke, and was surprised to see his hawk looking at him and McGonagall.

"Y-you can…speak?" Neji asked, blinking. The hawk nodded. "H-how can you speak? Only a few summoned animals can…s-speak." Neji stuttered, not yet recovered from the scare.

"I was a summoned creature, but I got tired of my abusive master and escaped to another world. I've been living here for 5 years." The hawk said coolly. Neji let out a breath of relief.

"The fox is one too. I can tell." The hawk said, pointing at Naruto's fox with one wing. Neji smirked and said, "That'll give Naruto a scare, so I'll keep this a secret until he speaks."

After five minutes a clone that was given the job to spy crashed through some branches and landed on the ground.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked, helping him up. "The guys have masks on, and they wear black cloaks. One of them spotted us, and sent some red light at us, and it hit my partner. So I came back as soon as possible." The clone said.

"I know who they are." McGonagall said, her voice firm. Neji gave her a questioning look. "They are death eaters. They must know we are here. We have to run; we can't stand up to twenty death eaters!"

Neji smirked. "We are three of the strongest in our village. Those sticks can't beat us!" Naruto yelled, with a hint of pride in his voice.

Naruto did a sign and made at least 10 clones that surrounded them. Several more filled the trees nearby. Two clones nearest to McGonagall grabbed her. "Take her somewhere safe!" Neji ordered. "W-what are you doing? I can apparate you three away from here!" She cried out, struggling to get free.

"You're not the only person that can apparate here, Professor. And even though you want to apparate, it's impossible. They placed an apparation barrier around us, which can only be broken by destroying the wand that cast it, or removing the spell." Neji said, casting his eyes around.

"But I can reverse the spell!" McGonagall argued. Neji sighed. "Yes, but we want to test the strengths of our enemies. It is essential for future battles, so we won't under or overestimate them."

McGonagall stopped struggling and sighed. "Are you sure you two will be alright? And where is that pink headed girl? The polite one?"

"Right here, Professor. And you two will be alright? What's that about?" Sakura repeated as she and her tiger came out of the brush.

All three of her companions stared at the huge, beautiful tiger that stalked towards them. "Sa-Sakura-chan, how DID YOU GET THAT?" Naruto said, putting his hands on either side of his head and yelling at the end of the sentence.

Sakura smiled proudly and petted her tiger. "That's the tiger Neji-san spotted for me. It must've looked small from the distance he was looking." She explained.

Neji stared for a little longer before tearing his eyes away from the godlike animal. "Oh, and what was that part about, the "And you two will be alright?" part?" Sakura asked again.

"20 Death eaters are coming, apparently they know of our presence here." Neji informed her, reaching into his back pouch.

Sakura's eyes widened a little bit, and asked "How the heck could they know? It's impossible! Unless someone overheard Dumbledore-sama talking to McGonagall-san, and also overheard us talking about our location!"

Neji nodded grimly. "But we'll deal about this later. They have arrived. Go hide McGonagall, hurry!" Neji shouted.

Neji pulled out two kunai, and held them with one hand. Naruto sunk into a fighting stance, and Sakura concentrated chakra into both her fists.

"Stupefy."

Neji gasped slightly and jumped out of the way when a stream of red light shot towards him. The red light hit a clone, making it disappear into smoke. Neji landed on a tree, which other death eaters attacked too.

"AAAAAARRRGGHHH!" The hundreds of Naruto clones roared a battle cry, and charged into the forests. Naruto's fox followed them closely.

"Reducto!"

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

Three death eaters roared, hurling verbal and non-verbal spells from their wands with as much force as launching a cannon ball.

But the death eaters were soon overpowered by the clones, each one of them launching themselves at a random death eater. One death eater fell with two kunais to the head, three kunais to the neck and five shuriken to the stomach thrown by Naruto clones. Another died to Sakura's super inhuman punch, which practically reduced his skull to bits of crushed bone.

The third fell to Neji's divine punishment, and the fourth was killed by a Naruto combo. Several others were brought down by the hawk, the fox and the tiger.

Naruto jumped down triumphantly, and deactivated almost all of the clones, leaving three. "HA!" Naruto half roared at the remaining death eaters. "You stupid death whatevers thought you could beat me, the great about-to-be Hokage, THE Uzumaki Naruto?!"

Sakura slapped her forehead, while Neji just sighed. "You four win this round, but next time, scum, you won't get lucky!" A death eater yelled back. His companions nodded in agreement and grabbed their dead comrades.

"Finite Incantatem!" The same death eater shouted, and disapparated along with the remaining death eaters.

"Now…that was completely weird." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. Neji scowled at him. "Idiot, it wasn't weird! It was…it was…" Sakura stopped, lost for words to describe the situation.

"Never mind all that, we have to figure out how those death eaters found us and our location." Neji reasoned, and held up a hand to signal that it was ok for Professor McGonagall to come out.

"What on earth happened?" Was the first thing the startled professor asked as soon as she was brought into view again.

"The death eaters attacked, but we managed to get off without any injuries. We killed half of them, and the rest decided to stop and escape, but not without throwing a warning at us." Sakura told her.

McGonagall looked a little bit less worried at the news. "That's...well, I'm glad you three and your assistants are safe." Sakura nodded in appreciation. "But never mind that now; they're gone, obviously back to report their losses and our location to that dark lord of theirs."

Neji's hand shot out and gripped Sakura hard on the shoulder, making her yelp with surprise. "N…Neji?"

"Haruno-san, I think I know who gave away our positions." He shut his eyes. Sakura gasped. "Who was it?"

"Try remembering a fellow who was always around us besides Dumbledore."

Sakura thought for a minute, and realization dawned on her. "You…you mean…?" She stuttered, not wanting to believe him. Neji nodded grimly. "It is."

McGonagall looked from Neji to Sakura, and then asked "Who is it you two are talking about?"

"It was Tom, the bartender from the Leaky Cauldron." Neji broke the ice. McGonagall stumbled back. "Tom would never…unless it was the imperius curse…"

Neji scanned McGonagall with his blank eyes before replying "Professor, was Tom around when Dumbledore informed you of our needs?" McGonagall nodded. "And was he around when you apparated to our room door?" She nodded again.

"So that's how he did it! And I trusted him too…" Sakura shook her head, making her bangs sway. Naruto, who hadn't spoken a word throughout the whole conversation, shook his head sadly as well.

"Now's not the time to pity our foe. We have to return immediately and release him of the spell." Neji broke the tension. McGonagall extended her hand wearily and Neji took it.

A loud crack, and they were gone.


End file.
